- Email: [email protected]
European development of fuel cell scooter
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NEWS mixed, avoiding the need for an expensive fuel separation membrane as is required for many other fuel cell types. Professor Armstrong says that the latest developments are ‘a powerful demonstration of the command we have of the hydrogen fuel cell catalyst which will open up applications beyond the current thinking of the fuel cells community, and I can envisage their use in smart devices.’ He adds that the technology has broad applications as a robust fuel cell for many utility applications where cost is a major issue, clean fuel sources cannot be guaranteed, and instant power is required. ‘We have been working with Professor Armstrong since the initial promising results a few years ago,’ comments Dr Roger Welch of Isis Innovation Ltd, the university’s technology transfer company. ‘We are delighted to see the invention powering a useful device, in this case a digital watch, and believe that this marks a milestone in the development process to improve the power density and lifetime of the enzymes.’ Contact: Professor Fraser Armstrong, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, UK. Tel: +44 1865 272647, Email: [email protected], www.chem.ox.ac.uk/researchguide/faarmstrong.html Or contact: Dr Roger Welch, Isis Innovation Ltd, Oxford, UK. Tel: +44 1865 280850, Email: [email protected], www.isis-innovation.com
European development of fuel cell scooter
I
talian scooter manufacturer Piaggio has successfully operated a fully integrated hydrogen fuel cell scooter at its test ground in Pontedera. The ‘Fresco’ project was coordinated by the ECN Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, and also involved Italian-based electromechanical systems producer Selin Sistemi SpA and a subsidiary of the French CEA nuclear energy agency; it was partially funded by the European Commission under its Fifth Framework Program. Scooters are popular vehicles in cities and urban areas all over the world. Reducing the emissions and energy use of these vehicles would offer a significant improvement in air quality and preserving the environment, including reduced noise. Highly efficient fuel cells running on hydrogen and feeding an electric motor form the preferred technology for the longer term. By participating in an R&D project on this technology, Piaggio aims to extend its activities in cleaner propulsion systems that
June 2006
began with its leading role in the development of hybrid technology. ECN built the fuel cell engine, Selin Sistemi realized the electric motor and its electronic control unit, and CEA Valduc developed the on-board hydrogen storage tank and refilling facility. The Universities of Pisa and Florence, and the ESMA Company in Russia, delivered additional services and components to the consortium. Although the Fresco project officially ended in July 2005, an additional effort was made by the project partners and the University of Pisa to enhance the vehicle performance and effectiveness. This work led to new tests in February, which verified vehicle acceleration, maximum speed and range. Earlier fuel cell developments for scooters were limited to small devices for charging an on-board battery, whereas in the Fresco project propulsion relied on the fuel cell alone. The scooter’s maximum speed is 70 km/h (45 mph), with a range of more than 120 km (75 miles). The liquid-cooled PEM fuel cell stack produces 6 kW of electric power, and is used in combination with a 45 Wh supercapacitor, with regenerative braking employed to boost the overall efficiency. The on-board hydrogen supply is a 525 bar (7500 psi) tank with a carbon-reinforced aluminum liner. Contact: Dr Frank de Bruijn, Manager – Hydrogen & Clean Fossil Fuels, ECN Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, Petten, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 224 564089, Email: [email protected], www.ecn.nl/bct/index.en.html
Jadoo adds products for off-grid critical power
C
alifornia-based Jadoo Power Systems, a leading supplier of portable fuel cell power systems to the professional broadcast market, introduced its expanded line of fuel cell products at the recent National Association of Broadcasters (NAB 2006) trade show in Las Vegas. The company’s new FillOne™ refill station, PowerBase™ desktop support stand and NStor360™ fuel canister are intended to make using and refilling fuel cells easy. Weighing only 1.4 kg and capable of operating with a 12 Vdc input, the single-port FillOne refill station provides the necessary rapid refill time for the mobile or independent user. The station can even be directly powered by a fuel cell. The high-performance FillPoint filling station, designed for the high-volume enterprise
user, was introduced at last year’s show [FCB, June 2005]. The PowerBase support stand readies the fuel cell power unit for use in the field or on the bench. Combined with the new N-Stor360 canister that delivers 360 Wh of energy, customers have everything they need to use fuel cell power with a variety of applications, including field-ready laptops, emergency response radios and other equipment used in extended off-grid situations, including professional broadcast cameras. Contact: Jadoo Power Systems Inc, Folsom, California, USA. Tel: +1 916 608 9044, www.jadoopower.com
Solvay, CMR in R&D collaboration
U
K-based CMR Fuel Cells has entered into a non-exclusive joint development collaboration with European chemicals giant Solvay SA, which is headquartered in Belgium. As a result the Solvay New Business Development division will work to produce high-performance porous membranes for use in CMR’s unique high power density ‘compact mixed-reactant’ fuel cell stacks. The collaboration aims to develop porous electrolyte membranes that eliminate the requirement for bulky, inactive components found in traditional fuel cells, such as flow-field plates and other balance-of-plant components. The partners say that this use of porous membranes is a world-first for the fuel cell industry, and is protected by CMR’s core intellectual property. By developing stacks in this way, CMR is seeking to exploit its patented mixed reactant flow-through architecture to mass-produce fuel cells capable of delivering the high power densities required to produce a commercially viable power delivery system with the potential to replace traditional Li-ion batteries. The CMR technology is claimed to massively reduce the size of fuel cell stacks, leaving more room for fuel and enabling dramatically longer run-times in portable power systems. Unlike conventional fuel cells, which rely on the complete separation of reactants, CMR’s revolutionary design works by flowing a mix of air and fuel through a porous stack that can make use of low-cost catalysts. This approach eliminates up to 90% of the volume and, as the reactants are mixed, the membrane no longer needs to physically separate them and so can be much thinner, lighter and consequently cheaper. Solvay recently linked up with Umicore to create a new joint venture, SolviCore, for the
Fuel Cells Bulletin
7
15/06/2006
16:04
Page 7
NEWS mixed, avoiding the need for an expensive fuel separation membrane as is required for many other fuel cell types. Professor Armstrong says that the latest developments are ‘a powerful demonstration of the command we have of the hydrogen fuel cell catalyst which will open up applications beyond the current thinking of the fuel cells community, and I can envisage their use in smart devices.’ He adds that the technology has broad applications as a robust fuel cell for many utility applications where cost is a major issue, clean fuel sources cannot be guaranteed, and instant power is required. ‘We have been working with Professor Armstrong since the initial promising results a few years ago,’ comments Dr Roger Welch of Isis Innovation Ltd, the university’s technology transfer company. ‘We are delighted to see the invention powering a useful device, in this case a digital watch, and believe that this marks a milestone in the development process to improve the power density and lifetime of the enzymes.’ Contact: Professor Fraser Armstrong, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, UK. Tel: +44 1865 272647, Email: [email protected], www.chem.ox.ac.uk/researchguide/faarmstrong.html Or contact: Dr Roger Welch, Isis Innovation Ltd, Oxford, UK. Tel: +44 1865 280850, Email: [email protected], www.isis-innovation.com
European development of fuel cell scooter
I
talian scooter manufacturer Piaggio has successfully operated a fully integrated hydrogen fuel cell scooter at its test ground in Pontedera. The ‘Fresco’ project was coordinated by the ECN Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, and also involved Italian-based electromechanical systems producer Selin Sistemi SpA and a subsidiary of the French CEA nuclear energy agency; it was partially funded by the European Commission under its Fifth Framework Program. Scooters are popular vehicles in cities and urban areas all over the world. Reducing the emissions and energy use of these vehicles would offer a significant improvement in air quality and preserving the environment, including reduced noise. Highly efficient fuel cells running on hydrogen and feeding an electric motor form the preferred technology for the longer term. By participating in an R&D project on this technology, Piaggio aims to extend its activities in cleaner propulsion systems that
June 2006
began with its leading role in the development of hybrid technology. ECN built the fuel cell engine, Selin Sistemi realized the electric motor and its electronic control unit, and CEA Valduc developed the on-board hydrogen storage tank and refilling facility. The Universities of Pisa and Florence, and the ESMA Company in Russia, delivered additional services and components to the consortium. Although the Fresco project officially ended in July 2005, an additional effort was made by the project partners and the University of Pisa to enhance the vehicle performance and effectiveness. This work led to new tests in February, which verified vehicle acceleration, maximum speed and range. Earlier fuel cell developments for scooters were limited to small devices for charging an on-board battery, whereas in the Fresco project propulsion relied on the fuel cell alone. The scooter’s maximum speed is 70 km/h (45 mph), with a range of more than 120 km (75 miles). The liquid-cooled PEM fuel cell stack produces 6 kW of electric power, and is used in combination with a 45 Wh supercapacitor, with regenerative braking employed to boost the overall efficiency. The on-board hydrogen supply is a 525 bar (7500 psi) tank with a carbon-reinforced aluminum liner. Contact: Dr Frank de Bruijn, Manager – Hydrogen & Clean Fossil Fuels, ECN Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, Petten, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 224 564089, Email: [email protected], www.ecn.nl/bct/index.en.html
Jadoo adds products for off-grid critical power
C
alifornia-based Jadoo Power Systems, a leading supplier of portable fuel cell power systems to the professional broadcast market, introduced its expanded line of fuel cell products at the recent National Association of Broadcasters (NAB 2006) trade show in Las Vegas. The company’s new FillOne™ refill station, PowerBase™ desktop support stand and NStor360™ fuel canister are intended to make using and refilling fuel cells easy. Weighing only 1.4 kg and capable of operating with a 12 Vdc input, the single-port FillOne refill station provides the necessary rapid refill time for the mobile or independent user. The station can even be directly powered by a fuel cell. The high-performance FillPoint filling station, designed for the high-volume enterprise
user, was introduced at last year’s show [FCB, June 2005]. The PowerBase support stand readies the fuel cell power unit for use in the field or on the bench. Combined with the new N-Stor360 canister that delivers 360 Wh of energy, customers have everything they need to use fuel cell power with a variety of applications, including field-ready laptops, emergency response radios and other equipment used in extended off-grid situations, including professional broadcast cameras. Contact: Jadoo Power Systems Inc, Folsom, California, USA. Tel: +1 916 608 9044, www.jadoopower.com
Solvay, CMR in R&D collaboration
U
K-based CMR Fuel Cells has entered into a non-exclusive joint development collaboration with European chemicals giant Solvay SA, which is headquartered in Belgium. As a result the Solvay New Business Development division will work to produce high-performance porous membranes for use in CMR’s unique high power density ‘compact mixed-reactant’ fuel cell stacks. The collaboration aims to develop porous electrolyte membranes that eliminate the requirement for bulky, inactive components found in traditional fuel cells, such as flow-field plates and other balance-of-plant components. The partners say that this use of porous membranes is a world-first for the fuel cell industry, and is protected by CMR’s core intellectual property. By developing stacks in this way, CMR is seeking to exploit its patented mixed reactant flow-through architecture to mass-produce fuel cells capable of delivering the high power densities required to produce a commercially viable power delivery system with the potential to replace traditional Li-ion batteries. The CMR technology is claimed to massively reduce the size of fuel cell stacks, leaving more room for fuel and enabling dramatically longer run-times in portable power systems. Unlike conventional fuel cells, which rely on the complete separation of reactants, CMR’s revolutionary design works by flowing a mix of air and fuel through a porous stack that can make use of low-cost catalysts. This approach eliminates up to 90% of the volume and, as the reactants are mixed, the membrane no longer needs to physically separate them and so can be much thinner, lighter and consequently cheaper. Solvay recently linked up with Umicore to create a new joint venture, SolviCore, for the
Fuel Cells Bulletin
7